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The Goodman Theatre: Birth, Rebirth, and Renaissance

Detail of an early theatre program for the Goodman showing its affiliation with the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

6 pm

Ruggles Hall

Jonathan Abarbanel

Open to the Public

Other Programs

The word Goodman probably is the best-established brand name in the firmament of Chicago theatre. It certainly is Chicago’s oldest continuously surviving theatrical name, now beginning its 10th decade of life without ever having been mothballed and forgotten (as was, say, the older Auditorium Theatre). The name is most associated with a physical place, the Goodman Theatre, and also the Goodman School of Drama. Along the way, the Goodman Theatre at various times also has meant a professional theatre company. The idea of space, school and company was born as a single vision but didn’t remain so for very long. The checkered history of all the three branches is one of rising and falling fortunes, not unlike the fortunes (both figurative and literal) of the namesake Goodman family itself. Today, the Goodman is Chicago’s Tony Award-winning flagship theatre company, and its birth, rebirth, and renaissance are emblematic of the rise to international prominence of our local theatre industry.